Busier than Christmas?
With more time spent at home and fewer stores open, Fedex Ground is seeing an influx in packages, which some delivery contractors say surpasses the holiday shopping rush.
Fedex Ground’s independent service providers, the contractors that deliver packages for the company, didn’t have as much time to prepare for COVID-19’S alteration of everyday life as they do annually for the holidays — the “peak season” for home deliveries.
“Christmastime is more planned out ahead of time,” said Marquitric Washington,
operational manager at B&B Delivery Service, a Fedex Ground contractor that delivers in and around Memphis. “Everything is forecasted so we can prepare. This was totally different. It was out of nowhere, and it’s like an avalanche coming down on you.”
B&B is seeing three or four times more package volume during the COVID-19 pandemic, Washington said. He attributes the surge to brick-and-mortar stores being closed and forcing those
“We’re adding, in our Fedex Ground unit, which is the one that does most of the (business-to-consumer deliveries), about 4,000 drivers a week.”
who wouldn’t normally order online to do so.
That falls in line with what Fedex Chairman and CEO Fred Smith said in a livestreamed interview with the Washington Post last week. While businessto-business traffic has “contracted significantly” due to COVID-19 lockdowns, it has been “replaced by enormous amounts of business-to-consumer deliveries,” he said.
Orders rising, drivers wanted
Online orders in the U.S. are up 128.6% and 112.2% for online-only companies and traditional retailers, respectively, according to data from marketing company Emarsys and analytics company Gooddata. Delivery companies are hiring to keep up with skyrocketing demand.
“We’re adding, in our Fedex Ground unit, which is the one that does most of the (business-to-consumer deliveries), about 4,000 drivers a week,” Smith said.
Scott Levine, owner of New Jerseybased Fedex Ground contractor SDB Package and Delivery, said he oversees about 45 delivery drivers but is still looking to hire about 15 more.
“I’ve been sitting in front of my computer every day,” he said of the contractor’s hiring efforts. “I’ve been running ads. I’ve had outside people try to help me get people in.”
Ohio-based Fedex Ground contractor Bryan Cowdery Inc. is looking to hire about five to 10 more drivers, said its president, Bryan Cowdery. The contractor’s package volume has been up about 50% from the year before, which Cowdery attributed to the coronavirus shutdowns and retaining volume that used to go to the U.S. Postal Service.
“We’re actually running numbers higher than peak currently,” said Cowdery, who oversees 88 drivers delivering in central Ohio.
With Cowdery’s drivers seeing much more volume, their routes have been reduced by half so they can keep deliveries on schedule.
“Drivers are actually happier now